H o o d M u s e u m o f A r t, Da r t m o u t h C o l l e g e
w Introduction
Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi and Elissa Watters
Ukara: Ritual Cloth of the Ekpe Society features the ukara
cloth, a composite signifier of authority, prestige, sacrality,
difference, and social mobility in the Ekpe secret society in
the Cross River basin encompassing southeastern Nigeria
and parts of Cameroon. The exhibition explores the long-
standing cultural practice the cloth represents as well as the
artistic process involved in its creation. Made of plain cotton,
the ukara is transformed into a ritual object when nsibidi sym-
bols are inscribed onto it through indigo dyeing. Nsibidi is a
body of ideographic, abstract, and gestural signs deployed
by Ekpe society as a form of encoded communication. The
signs encapsulate human relationships at personal, communal,
and cross-cultural levels. Though encoded, nsibidi signs are
recognizable to a broad public; still, few understand the signs’
deeply guarded meanings.
This richly symbolic cloth, along with nsibidi, has contrib-
uted to the distribution of Ekpe among the Ejagham, Igbo,
Efik, Ibibio, and other cultural groups in the Cross River basin.
Hung as a backdrop in Ekpe lodges, large-scale ukara, im-
bued with transcendental aura, sacralize the interior spaces.
Worn as personal wrappers during initiations and at social
events, many of which are public spectacles, ukara distinguish
Ekpe members. Covering, concealing, and protecting their
bodies, the cloth is a physical metaphor for ideological se-
crecy that Ekpe society carefully constructs and guards. Thus,
the ukara cloth represents the tension between concealment
and revelation that is central to the structure of Ekpe society,
where knowledge equals power.
w2w
In the historical past, the Ekpe secret society was an all-
male group with religious, social, economic, political, and
judicial power. Because of their appropriation, exclusive use,
and understanding of nsibidi symbols, Ekpe members were
thought to have access to the spiritual realm and were, there-
fore, empowered to make societal rules and enforce social
norms. As a governing institution across different communities
and ethnicities throughout the Cross River region, Ekpe creat-
ed cohesion that was crucial to the maintenance of inter- and
intra-cultural relationships and social identity in and around
Old Calabar, the trading center of the Cross River region. The
secrecy of the society allowed it to maintain much of its au-
thority. While such authority is largely diminished today, Ekpe
membership is still prestigious and the society continues to be
a unifying force in the Cross River basin.
The origins of the ukara cloth, nsibidi symbols, and Ekpe
society are contested. Given the multicultural nature of Old
Calabar, it is likely that there were external influences on the
development of these ritualized objects, graphic signs, and
society in general. The Ejagham people of the northern Cross
River region and neighboring western Cameroon are general-
ly credited by early colonial administrators, missionaries, and
anthropologists as the source of nsibidi because they found
a larger number and variety of the signs among the Ejagham
than among other groups.1 Yet the fluidity of peoples and cul-
tures in the Cross River basin, limited record-keeping, and the
furtiveness of Ekpe society obscure the origins of the society,
its language, rituals, and objects.
Although used exclusively by members of Ekpe, ukara
cloth is produced by a sub-group in one of the villages that
comprise the Ezillo community in present-day Ebonyi State
in the Igbo area. The process of creating the cloth is arduous
and elaborate. Ekpe members request certain nsibidi designs
of personal or communal significance. Each ukara is highly
individualized and clearly produced to be worn by a specific
Ekpe person or to mark a specific Ekpe lodge. The Aro peo-
ple of Arochukwu were, historically, the middlemen during
the slave trade era and the succeeding palm produce trade,
as well as part of the Ekpe network. They continue to act as
middlemen, taking Ekpe members’ requests to the Ezillo cre-
ators and transporting the indigo-dyed ukara back to patrons
around the Cross River basin today. The design process is left
to the discretion of the Ezillo creators, who are not members
of Ekpe and, therefore, do not know the nsibidi meanings.
After completing a drawn design, these artists sew the white
cloths with raffia thread so that parts of the cloth (in the pat-
tern of the nsibidi symbols represented) will not be exposed
to the dye. The cloth is then dipped in indigo dye and hung
to dry. When the threads are cut, the nsibidi designs stand
out, white against a deep blue background.
Laden with layers of meaning, the white symbols on the
dyed-blue background are arranged in a grid, giving the
cloths an orderly, symmetrical quality that is often reinforced
by repeated patterns. The symbols may convey meaning ei-
ther singularly or in groups, and each sign may be figurative,
geometric, or abstract, or may represent a physical object,
concept, or narrative. Individual symbols may also have mul-
tiple meanings, rendering context crucial and interpretation
inevitable in “reading” them. The contrast of the white cloth
against the superimposed indigo dye creates a clear, gridded
visual ordering of figure and ground that is often broken when
symbols extend beyond the boundaries of their squares. Giv-
en the ability to disrupt or, perhaps, recreate the visual struc-
ture of the cloths, nsibidi figural motifs are imbued with a par-
ticular visual power that highlights their importance in Ekpe
society. On the ukara cloth, they appear to transcend the
w3w
grid structure that regulates the various motifs and to occupy
more space than their dimensions require. Interestingly, the
already-abstracted marks rarely, if ever, cross into the spaces
of other symbols, perhaps because the abstract forms them-
selves demand recognition of their complex, poly-semantic
symbolism.
We are grateful to the two scholars whose contributions
to this publication afford a fuller and much richer context for
understanding ukara, nsibidi, and the Ekpe secret society.
Professor Eli Bentor of Appalachian State University, Boone,
North Carolina, provides a history of the ukara cloth, piec-
ing together contingent information drawn from nearly thirty
years of fieldwork in southeastern Nigeria. Dr. Jordan Fenton
of Ferris State University explains in great detail the use of
nsibidi in Ekpe activities, further grounding the significance
of ukara. Both art historians draw on their own rigorous schol-
arship as well as intimate knowledge of Ekpe, as members
of the society themselves, in their essays and in shaping the
contours of this exhibition. We are also indebted to Dr. Bentor
for availing us of his rich collection, from which the selections
of ukara textiles on view were made. In addition, Dr. Bentor,
and Dr. Fenton to a lesser extent, provided field photographs
of Ekpe-related activities and the process of producing ukara,
which are included in the exhibition.
Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi is Curator of African Art, and
Elissa Watters ’15 is the 2014–15 Levinson Curatorial Intern,
both at the Hood Museum of Art.
w4w
A Historical Understanding
of Ukara Cloth
Eli Bentor
Ukara is an indigo-dyed cloth used exclusively by members of
the Ekpe secret society in the multi-ethnic Cross River region
of southeastern Nigeria and nearby parts of Cameroon. The
main use of the cloth is as a wrapper tied around the hips,
while a particularly large ukara cloth is used as a backdrop in
the Ekpe meetinghouse (see facing page). The cloth is only
manufactured by residents of one village-group in Ebonyi
State to the north of the Ekpe region, an area where Ekpe
does not exist. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, ukara cloths
present a number of interesting issues for study. How can we
research an art form used by members of a society who are
sworn to secrecy? How can a cloth that carries symbols (called
nsibidi) known only to members of Ekpe be manufactured by
people who are not privy to the society’s esoteric knowledge?
What I propose here is that by finding clues to the history of
the cloth, we can begin to answer these questions.
Due to the lack of extant objects from earlier periods and
limited early documentary evidence, the historical study of
African art is fraught with methodological problems. Until
recently, African art has been largely studied in an ahistorical
manner.1 Historical studies of precolonial African art tend to
focus on court art of highly centralized groups such as the
Empire of Benin or the Kingdoms of the Kuba where the le-
gitimacy of rulers often derives from their ability to recall his-
torical precedents. The history of African societies that lacked
centralized authorities and dynastic rules is particularly difficult
to study.2 Early European sources are also largely limited to
w5w
the coastal areas of Africa.3 Europeans did not visit the region
where ukara is produced, as well as much of the region where
Ekpe society exists (with the exception of Calabar), until the
early twentieth century. The historical study of African art is
also biased toward durable objects in bronze or terracotta,
and is particularly difficult when attempting to study textiles
because of their ephemeral nature. Textiles such as ukara that
are used regularly in ceremonies are not likely to survive for
more than a few decades in the tropical climate of southern
Nigeria.
Indigo dyeing has a long history in Africa and beyond.
Some of the earliest evidence for the use of indigo comes
from ancient Egypt, where pieces of indigo-dyed linen were
found in tombs dating as early as the Old Kingdom of the
third millennium BCE.4 The long global history of indigo
teaches us that indigo dyeing is a complex process requiring
expertise and professional specialization. In many cases, it
was kept as a trade secret. In Africa, this knowledge has often
been restricted to specific ethnic groups.
The earliest West African examples are from the burial
caves of the Bandiagara escarpment in Mali, where ancient
Tellem textiles dated starting from the eleventh and twelfth
centuries have been found.5 Indigo dyeing is widespread in
West Africa, with several complexes including the woven and
dyed cloth of the Guinea Coast, the highly patterned adire
of southwestern Nigeria, and the single-color dyed fabrics of
northern Nigeria and Niger.6
It is impossible to date the origin of ukara-making with
precision. The earliest reference to a special Ekpe cloth dates
to 1786, when the Calabar merchant Antera Duke recorded
having dressed up with an Ekpe cloth for a burial ceremo-
ny.7 However, it is impossible to tell if this cloth was locally
produced or imported. While there are photographs of Ekpe
members dating back to the later nineteenth century, none
show an ukara. The earliest clear evidence of Ekpe ukara is a
comment by M. D. W. Jeffreys, a colonial officer, who in 1919
mentioned coming across “Ukara cloth . . . made by the Ibos
[which] was a white spotted with blue and was the uniform of
the Ekpe Society.”8
To gain a better understanding of the history of ukara
cloth, three aspects need explication: Ekpe society and their
use of nsibidi, the Aro people and their network of settle-
ments, and the history of population movement in the north-
east Igbo area.
As a secret society, Ekpe played an important role in the
development of networks of trust that facilitated trade in this
complex multi-ethnic region that includes Efik, Ibibio, Igbo,
and the many groups along and east of the Cross River. Eu-
Fig. 1. Mgballa Ekpe with Ekpe members, Arochukwu, southeastern Nigeria.
ropean traders in Calabar attested to the existence of Ekpe Photo by Eli Bentor.
beginning in the seventeenth century. Its origin may be in the
middle Cross River area, where it is known as ngbe, the local ukara. In some places, including Arochukwu, where I do my
word for leopard (hence, in the literature Ekpe is often called research, there is a parallel society for women called Iyamba.
“the leopard society”).9 From the middle Cross River, Ekpe Iyamba members do not use ukara cloth.
spread into the upper Cross River and into Cameroon,10 Cala- At the center of each village (or sometimes a segment of a
bar,11 and parts of the Igbo area of modern-day Abia State.12 village) is an Ekpe lodge (Mgballa Ekpe) consisting of a semi-
Within each community, Ekpe participated in the running open veranda and an inner room (fig. 1). When the society
of the society and had important judicial functions. These gathers at the Mgballa, a whirring or droning low-tone sound,
functions are still in effect, although today some members join considered the most secretive aspect of Ekpe, emerges from
Ekpe more as a marker of influence and prestige than for its the inner room and a very large, specially made ukara with
esoteric religious roles. The society is graded into seven or bold designs is hung on the wall separating the two parts.
nine levels depending on locality. In the past, each grade re- Ukara is designed on a grid using three types of motifs:
quired a separate and costly initiation, so moving through the geometric patterns, often represented in every other square,
Ekpe system was a long process signifying growing maturity giving an overall pattern to the cloth; figurative designs such
for men. Only members of the highest grade of Ekpe were en- as a leopard, crocodile, masquerader, python, or lizard; and
titled to wear ukara during various social functions. Today ini- abstract designs conveying specific meanings. All of these
tiation is usually done in two steps and all members may wear designs belong to the precolonial writing system known as

w6w
nsibidi. Today, these are secret signs used as a means of com-
munication among members of Ekpe. They are also drawn on
the chests of members who form a guard of honor at the head
of processions, and carved on objects used in the Ekpe lodge.
Within Ekpe, nsibidi are not limited to graphic signs; they also
include a complex repertoire of gestures. While today nsibidi
signs are restricted in their use to Ekpe society, their appear-
ance on early non-Ekpe-related masks and utilitarian objects,
as well as evidence collected by early ethnographers, sug-
gests that they have not always been as secretive.13
Since ukara cloth is used exclusively by members of Ekpe
society and includes the secretive nsibidi, it is surprising that
those who make the cloth are not familiar with its esoteric
meanings. All ukara cloths are made in one village of Ezillo, a
village-group between Enugu and Abakaliki. There is no Ekpe
society in this area and the meanings of nsibidi signs are un-
known. To explain how a cloth with such specific significance
in one area is actually made some hundred miles away, we
need to introduce the Aro people.
The Arochukwu village-group not far from the Cross River
was established as a result of the coming together of several
Igbo, Ibibio, and Cross River ethnic elements to fight a war,
probably in the late seventeenth century. Using their het-
erogeneity as a resource and the power of their oracle, the
famous ibiniukpabi (or Long-Juju), the Aro established a wide
network of long-distance trade throughout a vast area from
the Niger to the Benue and into Cameroon east of the Cross
River. With the emergence of the transatlantic slave trade, the
Aro specialized in supplying enslaved people for the market,
exchanging them for imported goods with the coastal com-
munities of Calabar and the Niger Delta.14
With the passing of the slave trade and the emergence of
the “legitimate trade” in the early nineteenth century, the Aro
w7w
converted their slave-recruiting mechanism into a network of
settlements throughout the region. Among those are relative-
ly small Aro settlements in the northeastern part of Igboland
where ukara are made. While some Aro farm for a living, many
continue to trade. The Aro of the diaspora maintain strong
ties with their home town of Arochukwu. Among those ties is
the continued importance of membership in Ekpe society. To
become an Ekpe member, a resident of a settlement has to be
initiated in his parent village in Arochukwu.
The last piece of the puzzle is the presence of small pock-
ets of pre-Igbo people in northeastern Igboland. The Igbo
people only expanded into this area, now part of Ebonyi
State, within the last two or three hundred years, forming sev-
eral distinct groups including the Izzi, Ezza, Ngbo, and Ikwo.
As they moved in, they mostly displaced an existing popula-
tion of speakers of Benue languages who are related to the
Idoma people to the north.15 Those who remained behind
were known in colonial sources as Orri, although they now
prefer to be called by the names of the different communities
they occupy, such as Ezambo, Ntezi, and Ezillo. Today, while
they often speak Igbo and have a second Igbo name, they
maintain a strong sense of separate identity. They have also
preserved the specialized knowledge of indigo dyeing that
they share with other Benue speakers, including the producers
of the famous Jukun cloth of Benue and Taraba States. Ezillo
dyers still use locally produced strip-woven cotton cloth
made in Agala in southern Idomaland to create a simple
indigo-dyed cloth with bold designs primarily used as a burial
shroud. They also dye yarn used to weave towels and mas-
querade costumes.
The involvement of Aro traders together with the tech-
nique and division of labor along gendered lines in the man-
ufacturing of ukara are clues to the unravelling of its history.
Fig. 2. Ezillo man drawing a grid pattern to be filled with the required nsibidi
designs. Photo by Eli Bentor.
Even today, Aro settlers in the area act as contractors in the
ukara business. Until several years ago, producing indigo
cloth and yarn was a cottage industry in Ezillo, often engaging
entire families and compounds. All known examples of ukara
bearing nsibidi signs are produced on industrially made cloth.
An Aro agent buys this cloth from one of the major markets in
the region and gives it to an Ezillo man to design. The Ezillo
man draws a grid pattern and fills it with the required nsibidi
designs (fig. 2). The designed cloth is then returned to the
contractor, who will give it to a man who specializes in
sewing the cloth. Sewing is done with raffia using a large
needle. Each pattern is created by squeezing one area and
sewing it with raffia fiber using a large needle, while leaving
the adjacent area unsewn (fig. 3). This is the most labor-
intensive part of the process and often takes weeks to com-
plete. The Aro contractor pays for the work and gives the
w8w
Fig. 3. Omabe Eze sewing an ukara. Photo by Eli Bentor.
cloth to Ezillo women for dyeing. The dyeing is done in large
earthen pots filled with water into which fermented indigo
and alkaline potash are added. The dyer rubs the cloth be-
tween her thumbs and allows it to dry and oxidize to pro-
duce a beautiful blue color (fig. 4). This process is repeated a
number of times to get a deep color. Because the raffia does
not entirely seal the sewn parts, some indigo bleeds into the
cloth, creating a much-coveted effect. The last step is to cut
the raffia stiches to reveal the entire cloth. This step is often
left to Ezillo young people and is not gender specific.
The Aro contractor then pays for the labor and sells the
finished cloth to Ekpe members. Some pieces are generic,
with an assortment of nsibidi designs with no special features.
Those are sometimes available in the market and in Calabar
chieftaincy stores. An Ekpe member can also commission an
ukara with specific designs or inscriptions in mind. The con-

Fig. 4. Ukara being dyed in a pot; rubbing the cloth to produce deeper color.
Photo by Eli Bentor.
tractor instructs the designer on the specific motifs required,
often providing him with drawings of such designs.
An elaborate example of a commissioned ukara in the
present exhibition (fig. 5, next page) was produced in 1972
for Mazi Okereke Agbam, an elder in Agbagwu village of Aro-
chukwu, through the agency of Mazi James Agasi, the most
active Aro contractor of ukara cloth. It includes Agbam’s full
name and address on both margins and a date (May 1972).
However, a mistake in the design process resulted in the date
and the masquerader being drawn in reverse. Such an error
is understandable, as it is difficult to discern the designed
patterns on an undyed monochromatic cloth squeezed by
the sewing process. While the date in mirror writing probably
did not disqualify the cloth from ceremonial use, the fact that
the masquerader (lower center) is shown with a staff in his left
rather than the required right hand did. Holding the staff is a
w9w
form of gestural nsibidi that must be done with the right hand.
Such an incorrect image would have been the butt of jokes by
fellow Ekpe members, so it was rejected.16
Key to the production of ukara are the specific techniques
used to create the nsibidi designs by manipulating the cloth
with raffia threads prior to dyeing, as well as the enshrined
division of labor. The technique and division of labor are dif-
ferent from those used to produce the famous Yoruba adire
cloth, where women have almost complete control of the
production. It also differs from the northern Nigerian complex
known for dark indigo solid-color textiles, where men are re-
sponsible for the entire process including dyeing in buried
pots.17 In the Benue Valley complex and its extension into
northeastern Igboland, men do the design and sewing while
women do the dyeing. In all three complexes, the specific di-
vision of labor is embedded in deeply held notions of gender
identity and thus is not likely to have emerged recently.18 The
best-known products of the Benue complex are the ndop, or
the so-called Bamenda or Bamun-cloth woven and dyed by
the Jukun people of the Taraba and Benue states of Nigeria.
The sew-dye technique and division of labor are identical to
that of ukara, although they lack the grid arrangement.
Thus, circumstantial evidence suggests that ukara cloth
resulted from the meeting of the Ezillo dyers with the Ekpe
complex through the agency of the Aro traders living near Ez-
illo. The Ezillo provided the knowledge of indigo dyeing. The
Ekpe complex provided the demand for prestigious cloth with
nsibidi signs. The Aro, as traders throughout the region with a
presence in the Ebonyi area and a close association with Ekpe
society, provided the link between the producers and consum-
ers of the cloth.
Eli Bentor is Professor of Art History at
Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.
Fig. 5. Ukara made for Mazi Okereke Agbam, 1972. Photo by Jeffrey Nintzel.

w 10 w
Knowledge in Motion:
Reading and Performing Ukara Nsibidi
Jordan A. Fenton
On a June afternoon in 2009, I distinctively recall my adoptive
Nigerian father, with whom I was living at the time, Ntoe Pat-
rick Inok Oquagbor V, monarch of the Qua-Ejagham peoples
of the Nkonib clan in the city of Calabar, southeastern Nige-
ria, calling his sons and me to his front porch. In his hand was
his crisply folded ukara wrapper. As we met him, he carefully
unfolded and handed it to his eldest son to securely hang the
cloth horizontally from his porch burglary spindles. As his son
hung the textile, our excitement was palpable, for we were
going to receive a lesson in the esoteric body of knowledge
depicted on ukara. As my adoptive father and one of my mas-
ter teachers, Ntoe had an important lesson in mind for me
that day.
He started by using his staff of office, a walking stick, to
point at individual ukara motifs and perform their meanings
without speaking. I had my notebook ready and began to re-
cord the experience carefully as a good field researcher and
ethnographer tends to do, but my note-taking was abruptly
cut short. Ntoe sternly reprimanded me for writing notes
during instruction by saying, “Put that notebook away!” Al-
though fully understanding my impulse to document every-
thing as a researcher, the point was that the body of knowl-
edge and art form known as nsibidi, of the Ekpe and Mgbe
secret society, as depicted on the ukara cloth, should only be
learned verbally and through the medium of performance.
He further stated, “Write this down afterword, use your mind
to remember.”
w 11 w
As a great teacher, he taught me a critical lesson that day
beyond just the material: that the way in which the Western
world has written about and documented nsibidi produces
a misunderstanding by freezing it in time, thus undermining
its performed dynamism and continually changing nature. In
other words, recording ukara nsibidi as merely a text of signs
and their meanings makes it everything it is not—static. This
essay endeavors to present ukara nsibidi in motion by dis-
cussing the meaning of ukara motifs and their connections to
Ekpe/Mgbe ritual in order to begin to understand its complex,
performed, and kinetic nature. Before exploring performed
nsibidi, however, a brief introduction to nsibidi, Ekpe/Mgbe
society, ukara, and their historical significance is needed.
In discussing the meaning of ukara nsibidi and the per-
formed version of the Ekpe/Mgbe esoteric knowledge system,
I am in no way revealing secrets or breaching my own initia-
tion oaths. In fact, according to my Ekpe/Mgbe teachers, the
verbal interpretations are not carefully guarded secrets as the
literature suggests. However, I cannot discuss certain motifs,
especially those related to the ancestors, nor can I disclose
the step-by-step formulas of performed nsibidi. Members
have authorized me to explain the general nature of the per-
formance, although I am forbidden to articulate how to per-
form a given sign or sequence of signs. The following discus-
sion is a result of my own initiations into the Ekpe/Mgbe soci-
ety and lengthy apprenticeships into the visual and performed
versions of nsibidi during fieldwork I conducted between 2008
and 2010 and in 2014.
Nsibidi is an indigenous language, art form, and knowl-
edge system of the Cross River region in southeastern Nigeria
and west Cameroon. It is essentially a multimedia art form as
it can be drawn on many surfaces, used to adorn the body,
carved into sculpture, verbalized or spoken, and performed.
Throughout its known history, two versions can be identified:
those signs used in the public domain and those restricted
to secret masquerade institutions.1 In both systems, nsibidi
appears to take on a pictographic quality. However, reduc-
ing nsibidi to mere pictographic characters belies their role
as complex signifiers, when in fact most motifs communicate
information beyond a single word or idea. Indeed, local mas-
querade institutions not unlike the Ekpe or the Mgbe society
are well known for their use of nsibidi today.2
Ekpe (as it is known among the Efik and Efut peoples) or
Mgbe (the Qua-Ejagham version) is the longest-standing
political institution and masquerade society known to Calabar
and the peoples located in the hinterland of the Cross River
region. As an exclusive men’s association, it is a highly strati-
fied political, social, and religious institution concerned with
ancestral veneration of past members. The historical impor-
tance of Ekpe/Mgbe is well noted in the literature due to its Fig. 6. Interior of courtyard wall surrounding the Ekpe Asibong Ekondo
role during the transatlantic slave and palm oil trading days lodge featuring Ekpe/Mgbe nsibidi animal motifs as decoration, Calabar,
December 5, 2009. Photo by Jordan A. Fenton.
at Calabar. Beginning approximately in 1650 and waning in
the nineteenth century, slave and produce trading at Calabar In other words, most argue that not only were Calabar Ekpe
was negotiated and governed by the Ekpe society. The Efik titles considered more prestigious than hinterland versions, but
people became the middlemen to European maritime traders, also that the entire trade system relied on a professional net-
and some argue that by the early 1700s, those Efik traders work of trust united by membership in the Efik version of Ekpe.5
purchased Mgbe from their neighbors and reorganized it into The Cross River region, home to many diverse cultures
Ekpe to manage international commerce.3 The Efik built a and languages, was thus united under the Ekpe lodge. Per-
30,000-square-mile commercial zone that linked wider trading formed Ekpe nsibidi quite possibly became a means of com-
routes extending south to the Cross River estuary and upriver munication that further amalgamated a fragmented region,
to include Ibibio districts, Arochukwu, Umon, and routes link- providing a way for migrant traders to communicate their
ing to the Cameroon grasslands.4 The glue that cemented this membership status and right to trade in the absence of a
trading network together was Ekpe, in which membership was common language. In fact, ukara nsibidi depict the informa-
available at a price. The Efik sold the reorganized Ekpe society tion that Ekpe/Mgbe members also perform to each other.
upriver, prohibiting hinterland communities from participation There are levels of membership and many branches of
in the lucrative trade without literally buying into their version. positions and titles, each informing the broader nsibidi matrix.

w 12 w
Ekpe/Mgbe membership requires initiation, and further ad-
vancement to leadership roles involves the cultivation of nsibi-
di knowledge. There are two genres of nsibidi in Ekpe/Mgbe:
the imaged and the performed. The former is depicted on
indigo stitch-resist cloth known as ukara, the primary symbol
of the society; illustrated and drawn on initiates’ bodies, lodge
walls (fig. 6), and pillars; incorporated into Ekpe/Mgbe chief-
taincy dress (fig. 7); and woven into raffia masquerade cos-
tumes (fig. 8). The latter genre is a non-spoken performance
of the institution’s philosophy and rituals as illustrated on the
ukara. Both genres inform each other: the imaged version,
especially those motifs featured on ukara, teaches initiates the
basis of the performed version.
The verbal explanations of specific ukara motifs can vary
tremendously. Indeed, most motifs are subject to a multiplicity
of interpretations, while some vary only slightly, and a limited
few have consistent meanings.6 For example, the motif pre-
dominantly featured on most ukara consists of a series of con-
centric rectangles with a horizontal line in the middle of the
motif (fig. 9).7 The rectangle alternately represents the Ekpe/
Mgbe lodge with the all-important pillar in the center, the
sanctuary of the lodge, a box protecting the secrets of the so-
ciety that signifies mystic power, or the top of the Ekpe/Mgbe
table where members eat during rituals. The horizontal line
variously represents the cane or whip, a grave or coffin, a bar-
rier guarding the entrance into the sacred Mboko branch (the
most mystical and ancestral aspect of the society), the house
of the tortoise, or the carpet of the society. Each of these in-
terpretations relates to the tangible and intangible aspects of
the society.
These multiple explanations allow members to use the Fig. 7. Chief Ekpenyong Bassey Nsa posing by the Ekpe pillar inside an Ekpe
lodge with his ukara wrapper after his installation in the office of title holder,
motif as a springboard during instruction. Ekpe/Mgbe masters December 31, 2009. His chieftaincy dress and the pillar feature many nsibidi
thus use motifs to infer and teach ideas beyond the symbols’ motifs. Photo by Jordan A. Fenton.

w 13 w

Fig. 8. Nsibidi motifs woven into the raffia mane of an Mgbe masquerade
costume (Abon Ogbe), performing during a chieftaincy installation at Nkonib,
Calabar, June 7, 2008. Photo by Jordan A. Fenton.
Fig. 9. Detail of ukara cloth featuring a number of repeating rectangle
motifs. Photo by Jeffrey Nintzel.
w 14 w
pictographic meanings. The interpretive lens is contextually
based on the teacher’s and/or learner’s ritual experience. In
other words, the highly personalized educational narrative
is always rooted in ritual procedures and activities. The main
objective and theme of the lesson pertains to the society’s
philosophy and ritual practice. For members, the ukara is thus
didactic and used as the society’s textbook for interested neo-
phytes.
Another example of this is the tortoise motif, always de-
picted from a bird’s-eye view emphasizing its carapace (fig.
10). The motif is interpreted variously as Nkanda (a branch
and masquerade) occupying the bush, a sign for the deceased
that relates to the Oku akama branch, the Qua Boriki branch,
or an old warning sign hung in front of the Mgbe lodge that
featured a tortoise shell tied to a cock. In the Ikom area, in the
Cross River hinterland, the motif was explained as the shell of
a turtle used to call the mystical aspects of the society. In gen-
eral, most members made use of the motif to reference the
various qualities of the tortoise.
The last interpretation allows a teacher of nsibidi to dis-
cuss many ideas of Ekpe/Mgbe with his pupil. The tortoise
lives in the bush along with other animals represented on the
ukara. These motifs are metaphors for the powers and abilities
that the ancestors appropriated from generations of human
imagination about animal qualities and embedded within
the philosophy of Ekpe/Mgbe. The tortoise is characterized
by longevity, wisdom, unhurried movement, prudence, and
cleverness. Such ideas translate as traits and behavioral prop-
erties that a member should strive to possess. For example,
the idea of longevity denotes the vitality of the ancestors and
the authority of Ekpe/Mgbe elders in general, while slowness
of movement and wisdom are qualities of the elders. Young-
er members must respect and learn from the elders in order
to cultivate their own knowledge. Levelheadedness, mental
agility, and creativity—further qualities attributed to the tor-
toise—can be applied in many areas of the society, including
proper conduct, the acquisition of knowledge, the arts, and
the ability to perform nsibidi. The verbal interpretations mean
nothing, however, if one cannot “activate” his Ekpe/Mgbe
knowledge through the medium of performance during ritual.
Most scholarship has emphasized performed nsibidi as
merely a gestured art form used to determine one’s level of
membership or as a jest during ritual.8 However, demonstrat-
ing one’s stage of initiation and enacting a playful jest are only
minor parts of the larger field that performed nsibidi covers;
the performance of nsibidi also allows Ekpe/Mgbe members
of different communities to communicate with one another.
For example, when someone not recognized by local mem- Fig. 10. Detail of tortoise motif from ukara. Photo by Jeffrey Nintzel.
bers passes through the ukara barrier that blocks the entrance
to the lodge, the person will be asked through gesture if he official gatherings, sanctioned nsibidi competitions are for-
is indeed a member of the society. The member will respond mally administered. In these competitions, masters are given
by performing the proper series of signs that indicate his rank the opportunity to advertise their skill and test their nsibidi
in the society. If a member were to verbally indicate his mem- acuity against other members. These arenas are competitive
bership in lieu of the performed version, he would be violently forums for demonstrating nsibidi knowledge since everything
removed from the lodge and severely fined. Performed nsibidi in Ekpe/Mgbe ritual—its meaning, protocol, instruments, con-
in this context is usually straightforward, whereas in a jest be- sumption of food and drink, masquerades, branches, the seen
tween members, the kinetic signs may incorporate a more wit- and the unseen—can be performed.
ty or indirect quality. The only rule to the performed genre of During competitions, all members except the nsibidi
nsibidi is that the performance must be clear. The recipient of performer remain seated. The performer demonstrates the
the question must be able to understand what is being asked nsibidi protocols that allow him to take center stage. He will
and then reply correctly. The complexity of this knowledge then dance, display his agility, and most importantly, ask each
system and art form increases as attention turns to the primary seated member to challenge him. Seated members will thus
application of performed nsibidi in Calabar today: performed try to “fumble” the central performer in order to prove who
competitions. possesses greater fluency and mastery. The performer’s turn
In certain Ekpe/Mgbe ritual contexts such as the instal- ends when he either successfully completes all challenges or
lation of a titleholder, the death of a chief or ruler, and other is defeated. During performed competition, nsibidi takes on

w 15 w
its most sophisticated, complex, and artful dimension as spins,
rotations, elegant footwork, and dexterity, flawlessly interwo-
ven with nsibidi, are key elements for the demonstration of
nsibidi acumen. In other words, performances must be beau-
tifully executed. In fact, official performed nsibidi competition
is the most anticipated aspect of Ekpe/Mgbe ritual in Calabar
today. It becomes a forum to learn and to put acquired knowl-
edge to the test.
Using the body as a canvas, initiates competitively convey
ritual experience, philosophy, and secret lore. Recall that ev-
erything inside and outside the society, literally and figurative-
ly, tangibly and intangibly, is fair game for manipulation in the
performed nsibidi field. A nsibidi performance can be broken
down into discrete elements that may be abbreviated or re-
ordered to misdirect the responder, who must complete the
sequence or, at least, demonstrate comprehension of the
Fig. 11. Entufam Edet manipulates staffs as walking aids during his nsibidi
basic premise of the entire display. There are a number of performance, Okoyong, LGA, March 20, 2010. Photo by Jordan A. Fenton.
ways to enact the knowledge of a given masquerade, ritual
procedure, or ancestral aspect of the society through nsibidi. stood through its performed version, rather than through its
For example, one technique can be performed with a single imaged manifestation on ukara cloth. In fact, most verbal in-
sign configured some twenty different ways according to the terpretations of Ekpe/Mgbe nsibidi encoded in ukara are just
actor’s individual style and dexterity (fig. 11). Another method the tip of the iceberg. Only through performed nsibidi may a
can include an entire sequence of signs. Still another mode member rightfully demonstrate and advertise his knowledge
can take the form of call-and-response between two compet- and agency during ritual. For this reason, members are con-
itors, repeating multiple times until the inquiry is complete. stantly practicing and creating new performances and ges-
There is no limit to the number of ways an Ekpe/Mgbe con- tures in order to keep their knowledge fresh. The real vitality
cept can be performed with nsibidi. In competition, members and power of Ekpe/Mgbe nsibidi comes from understanding it
must keenly interpret the performed signs and respond cor- in motion. Nsibidi performed thus teaches Western observers
rectly. how an esoteric knowledge and language system is indeed an
Ekpe/Mgbe nsibidi knowledge is taught and studied ever-changing body of art.
through ritual, performance of nsibidi symbols, and private
ukara instructional sessions. Because of the multivalent aspect Jordan A. Fenton is Assistant Professor of Art History at
of nsibidi, the esoteric language of Ekpe/Mgbe is best under- Kendall College of Art and Design, Ferris State University.

w 16 w

Notes
Introduction (pp. 2–3)
1. Early ethnographers and colonial officers such as T. D. Maxwell, Alfred
Mansfeld, J. K. Macgregor, Elphinstone Dayrell, and P. A. Talbot at-
tempted to collate nsibidi forms and their meanings during interviews
conducted with native informants. See, for example, Mansfeld, Ur-
wald-Dokumente (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1908); Dayrell, “Some ‘Nsibi-
di’ Signs,” Man 67 (1910): 113–14; Dayrell, “Further Notes on ‘Nsibidi’
Signs with Their Meanings from Ikom District, Southern Nigeria,” The
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ire-
land 41 (1911): 521–43; and Macgregor, “Some Notes on Nsibidi,” The
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ire-
land 39 (1909): 209–19.
A Historical Understanding of Ukara Cloth (pp. 5–11)
1. S. L. Kasfir, “One Tribe, One Style? Paradigms in the Historiography of
African Art,” History in Africa 11 (1984): 163–93.
2. R. Horton, “Stateless Societies in the History of West Africa,” in J. F. A.
Ajayi and M. Crowder, eds., History of West Africa (London: Longman,
1971).
3. C. B. Steiner, “Travel Engravings and the Construction of the Primitive,”
in E. Barkan and R. Bush, eds., Prehistories of the Future: The Primitivist
Project and the Culture of Modernism (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univer-
sity Press, 1995).
4. J. Balfour-Paul, Indigo (London: British Museum Press, 1998), 13–14.
5. R. Bolland, Tellem Textiles: Archaeological Finds from Burial Caves in
Mali’s Bandiagara Cliff (Amsterdam: Tropenmuseum, 1991).
6. See C. E. Kriger, Cloth in West African History (Lanham: Rowman & Lit-
tlefield Publishers, 2006); and Musée du tapis et des arts textiles de Cl-
ermont-Ferrand, Indigo: les routes de l’Afrique bleue (Aix-en-Provence:
Edisud, 2006). To complete the story, slaves from Guinea Coast were in
high demand in Jamaica and the low country of South Carolina thanks
to their familiarity with cotton farming and indigo dyeing. When cotton
and indigo are put together, the result is all-American blue jeans (al-
though the history of denim, or jeans, is complicated).
7. S. D. Behrendt, A. Duke, A. J. H. Latham, and D. A. Northrup, The Diary
of Antera Duke, an Eighteenth-Century African Slave Trader (New York:
Oxford University Press, with the assistance of the International African
Institute, 2010), 191.
8. M. D. W. Jeffreys, Anthropological Library, Owerri, Enugu, National Ar-
chive: 1 (1928).
w 17 w
 ee C. D. Forde and International African Institute, Yako Studies (Lon-
9.  S
don: Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford
University Press, 1964), 158–60; and M. J. Ruel, Leopards and Leaders:
Constitutional Politics among a Cross River People (London: Tavistock,
1967), 216–58.
10. U. M. Röschenthaler, Purchasing Culture: The Dissemination of Associa-
tions in the Cross River Region of Cameroon and Nigeria (Trenton, N.J.:
Africa World Press, 2011), 99–157.
11. G . I. Jones, “The Political Organization of Old Calabar,” in C. D. Forde,
ed., Efik Traders of Old Calabar, Containing the Diary of Antera Duke,
an Efik Slave-Trading Chief of the Eighteenth Century, Together with an
Ethnographic Sketch and Notes, by D. Simmons, and an Essay on the
Political Organization of Old Calabar, by G.I. Jones (London and New
York: Published for the International African Institute by Oxford Universi-
ty Press, 1956), 135–48.
12. U . N. Abalogu, “Ekpe Society in Arochukwu and Bende,” Nigeria Maga-
zine 126–27 (1978): 78–79.
13. See, for example, A. Mansfeld, Urwald-Dokumente: vier Jahre unter den
Crossflussnegern Kameruns (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1908); J. K. Mac-
gregor, “Some Notes on Nsibidi,” Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute 39 (1909): 209–19; and P. A. Talbot, In the Shadow of the Bush
(London: W. Heinemann, 1912), 304–9 and appendix G.
14. G . I. Jones, “Who are the Aro?,” Nigerian Field 8, no. 3 (1939): 100–3.
See also E. Bentor, “‘Remember Three Feet Deep’: Masks and the Ex-
culpation of/from Death in Aro Masquerade,” Journal of Religion in
Africa 24, no. 4 (1994): 323–38.
15. S. Ottenberg, Farmers and Townspeople in a Changing Nigeria: Abaka-
liki during Colonial Times (1905–1960) (Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2005),
9. Although Ottenberg refers to these non-Igbo ethnic elements as
“Cross River peoples,” he indicates that they “originated in the Benue
Valley a region to the north” but resided in the area long before the ar-
rival of the Igbo.
16. M azi James Agasi, personal communication with the author, 1998.
17. C . E. Kriger, Cloth in West African History (Lanham: Rowman and Little-
field Publishers, 2006), 125–34.
18. For the northern complex, Heidi Nast has argued that in the past, wom-
en, especially those affiliated with the Royal court of Kanu, had control
over indigo dyeing and that this has changed as a result of the Jihad
movements of the early nineteenth century. H. J. Nast, “Women, Roy-
alty, and Indigo-Dyeing in Northern Nigeria, circa 1500 to 1807,” in A.
Walthall, ed., Servants of the Dynasty: Palace Women in World History
(Berkeley: University of California Press), 232–61. Her evidence is not
entirely convincing, but even if that is the case, Kanu dyeing pots have
been a male domain for at least two hundred years.
Knowledge in Motion (pp. 13–19) 7. More recent ukara typically depict two rectangles, sometimes with two
horizontal lines inside the second rectangle, while older versions often
An earlier and longer version of this essay was presented in 2013 at Appa- have up to five rectangles with one central horizontal line.
lachian State University during the African Art Symposium: Symbol and Sur- 8. M  alcom Ruel, Robert Farris Thompson, U. N. Abalogu, and Amanda
face, organized by Eli Bentor, whom I would like to thank for his insightful Carlson are the only scholars to my knowledge who provide detailed
comments on an earlier draft of this essay. discussion of performed nsibidi. Ruel describes performed nsibidi from
Cameroon and interprets it as a symbolic mechanism underscoring the
1. In a number of early twentieth-century sources, colonial writers attempt- secret nature of the society. (Ruel, Leopards and Leaders: Constitutional
ed to document a wide variety of nsibidi signs. See, for example, J. K. Politics among a Cross River People [London: Tavistock Publications,
Macgregor, “Some Notes on Nsibidi,” Journal of Royal Anthropological 1969], 231–32.) In Thompson’s investigations, performed nsibidi is de-
Institute 39 (1909): 209–19; Alfred Mansfeld, Urwald-Dokumente (Ber- scribed as “action writing” and/or “artistic combat.” (Thompson,
lin: Dietrich Reimer, 1908); and Percy Amaury Talbot, In the Shadow of African Art in Motion: Icon and Act [Los Angeles: University of California
the Bush (London: Heinemann, 1912). These are important sources that Press, 1974], 180–81, and Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American
document a plethora of signs and in some cases their meanings; in my Art and Philosophy [New York: Random House, 1983], 228.) Abalogu
reading, however, these sources erroneously collapse the distinction be- presents a brief description of some performed Okonko (Ekpe in Igbo)
tween the public and restrictive aspects of nsibidi. nsibidi from Arochukwu. (Abalogu, “Ekpe Society in Arochukwu and
2. The label “leopard society” is often used collectively to describe the Bende,” Nigeria Magazine 126/127 [1978]: 92.) And more recently, Carl-
Ekpe, the Mgbe, and the Egbo (a popular label used by colonial writers) son investigated performed nsibidi through the lens of gender. (Carlson,
versions, and other variants found in the Cross River region. However, I “Nsibidi, Gender, and Literacy: The Art of the Bakor-Ejagham [Cross Riv-
consider this label clumsy and counterproductive because of its general- er State, Nigeria],” Ph.D. diss. [Indiana University, 2003].)
izing tone: it not only completely misrepresents the institution’s core as
a leopard spirit–worshiping society (as suggested in the literature), but
also barely scratches the surface of its philosophy.
3. For more on Ekpe’s role during the trading days at Old Calabar, see G. I.
Jones, “The Political Organization of Old Calabar,” in Daryll Forde, ed.,
Efik Traders of Old Calabar (London: Oxford University Press, 1956);
Kannan K. Nair, Politics and Society in South Eastern Nigeria (London:
Frank Cass, 1972); A. J. H. Latham, Old Calabar 1600–1891 (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1973); and David Northrup, Trade Without Rulers:
Pre-colonial Economic Development in South-Eastern Nigeria (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1978).
4. Stephen Behrendt, A. J. Latham, and David Northrup, The Diary of An-
tera Duke, an Eighteenth-Century African Slave Trader (London: Oxford
University Press, 2010), chapter 4.
5. Nair, Politics and Society in South Eastern Nigeria, 19; Latham, Old Cala-
bar, 39; and Simon Ottenberg and Linda Knudsen, “Leopard Society Mas-
querades: Symbolism and Diffusion,” African Arts 18, no. 2 (1985): 38.
6. During fieldwork investigation, I gathered many complete and partial
explanations of ukara and specific motifs by a wide range of Ekpe mem-
bers of diverse ages, ranks, and ethnic identities. Since Calabar was his-
torically occupied by the Qua-Ejagham, the Efik, and the Efut peoples,
interpretations were informed by members of all three groups. Addition-
ally, I obtained Etung-Ejagham interpretations near Ikom, in the middle
of the Cross River region. See Jordan A. Fenton, “Take It to the Streets:
Performing Ekpe/Mgbe Power in Contemporary Calabar, Nigeria,” Ph.D.
diss. (University of Florida, Gainesville, 2012), chapter 4.

w 18 w
 w w w
Exhibition Checklist
Igbo people, Nigeria, giant ukara used as a backdrop at an Ekpe lodge,
about early 2000s, cotton, indigo dye, 233 x 78 in. Collection of Eli Bentor.

Igbo people, Nigeria, large, generic, well-executed ukara, about mid-1980s,

cotton, indigo dye, 101 x 62 in. Collection of Eli Bentor.

Igbo people, Nigeria, large ukara designed by Omabe Eze (Muta Bu Ike),
about mid-1980s, cotton, indigo dye, 90 x 66 in. Collection of Eli Bentor.
Igbo people, Nigeria, Mazi Okereke Agbam of Arochukwu’s personalized
ukara, 1972, cotton, indigo dye, 97.5 x 71 in. Collection of Eli Bentor.
The exhibition Ukara: Ritual Cloth of the Ekpe Society
was organized by the Hood Museum of Art,
Dartmouth College, and generously supported by the William B. Jaffe
and Evelyn A. Hall Fund. Objects and images
in the exhibition are courtesy of Dr. Eli Bentor.

Igbo people, Nigeria, small ukara with very fine design and Omu Aro Copyedited by Kristin Swan
symbol, about mid-1980s, cotton, indigo dye, 65.5 x 33 in. Collection of Eli Designed by Christina Nadeau
Bentor. (See front cover.) Printed by [TK]

 kpenyong Bassey Nsa, Ebonko masquerade ensemble, 2010, multiple

E Cover: Small ukara with very fine design and Omu Aro symbol.
media, general size when costume is on form: 5 ft. x 29 in. The Samuel Photo by Jeffrey Nintzel. Detail on back.
P.Horn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainsville. Museum purchase Page 4: Giant ukara used as a backdrop at an Ekpe lodge.
with funds from the Caroline Julier and James To Richardson Acquisition Photo by Jeffrey Nintzel.
Fund; 2010.68.1.
© 2015 Trustees of Dartmouth College
Calabar, Nigeria, Ekpe chief’s attire ensemble, 2010, multiple media,
approx. 5 ft. 6 in. The Samuel P.Horn Museum of Art, University of Florida,
Gainsville. Museum purchase with funds from the Caroline Julier and James
To Richardson Acquisition Fund.
HOOD
 lso included in the exhibition: large-format photographs and a looped
A
photomontage of Ekpe members in ceremonial and ritual contexts; a MUSEUM
looped photomontage of the creation process of ukara cloth; an ukara
drawing example; ukara sewn examples (pre- and post-dye); examples of OF ART
the indigo balls and raffia used in the creation process of ukara cloth.
hoodmuseum.
dartmouth.edu

w 19 w